Conventionally, moldings formed by vacuum-molding and/or press-molding resin sheets are used for a floor mat and a trunk mat in a car.
For forming this type of mat through vacuum molding, a thermoplastic resin sheet is first formed through extruding or calendering. Then, the thermoplastic resin sheet is heated for plasticization, and placed on a mold having a molding surface in a desired shape and into which a number of air vents are opened. Next, air is drawn out from the air vents to aspirate the plasticized thermoplastic resin sheet so that it is conformal with the molding surface. Subsequently, the thermoplastic resin sheet is cooled down to complete a mat having the desired shape.
On the other hand, for forming this type of mat through press molding, a thermoplastic resin sheet likewise formed through extruding or calendering is heated for plasticization, then placed between a pair of molds having a molding surface in a desired shape, and clamped. Subsequently, the thermoplastic resin sheet is cooled down, and removed from the molds to provide a mat having the desired shape.
For the thermoplastic resin used to produce such mats, a vinyl chloride resin is often used because of its high degree of freedom in molding. In addition, one surface of the thermoplastic resin sheet is generally patterned for improving the designability. The patterning may be applied to the thermoplastic resin sheet by passing the sheet through patterning rolls. Alternatively, a mold previously formed with a decorative pattern on its molding surface may be used to transfer the pattern to the surface of the resin sheet during a molding process to provide a patterned sheet.
The resin molded mat produced as described above is improved in the designability with a color tone and a decorative pattern on the resin sheet. Actually, however, resin molded mats are limited in available color tones (pigments) and decorative patterns, so that resultant moldings are limited in design. Due to such limitations, a need exists for techniques for creating more novel designs.